All the Little Pieces
by Creek-IB-08
Summary: The 6th in the 'Pieces' series. The relationship develops, memories continue to return, and a 'family' trip is planned.


**All the Little Pieces**

**A Bones Fanfic**

**By Amanda**

**Sequel to ****Falling to Pieces****, ****Picking up the Pieces****, **

**Putting the Pieces Back Together****, **

**Bits and Pieces****, and****Pieces of My Heart**

**Spoilers for all four seasons (I think), but most are vague. **

**No copyright infringement intended. I only own the story line.**

*~BONES~*

"So what are we going to do today?" Booth asked as they were cuddled on the couch later.

"Well," Brennan answered, "I have to go by my apartment to pick up some things. I should probably go into the Jeffersonian for a couple of hours. Oh and I need to call Russ."

"Russ?" Booth inquired. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but not enough for him to place it.

Bones stopped at the question. Sometimes it was easy to forget that he was missing so much still, especially after the conversation they had had earlier that morning. "Russ, my brother. His youngest daughter Haley's birthday is coming up and I need to find out what the plans are and what to get her."

Booth closed his eyes and tried to piece together any fragments of memory. It was Christmas and Bones was on the other side of a window surrounded by her family. Booth froze the image and searched the faces for Russ. Picking out his face, Booth them searched the rest of his mind for the face of Russ Brennan. They were standing in Bones' living room talking about their kids as she got some beers; they toasted but the light mood was shattered by the voice on the answering machine. The two men were standing next to a decrepit Ferris wheel talking before Booth left his business card. The two were talking at the diner when someone took a shot at Russ. He and Bones were talking when Russ showed up and Booth had to arrest him; Bones convinced him to let Russ see his little girl at the hospital first. "I remember. Haley was the one in the hospital right?"

"Yes, she has Cystic Fibrosis. She's doing much better now though. What else do you remember?"

"Just little pieces" he admitted. "I can remember you all at Christmas. I remember I was with him when he was being shot at. At some point before your father showed up, we all shared a drink at your apartment. And …" Booth trailed off not knowing if he should say anything about having tracked her brother down at one point or not.

"And what?" she pressed.

"And nothing. I thought I remembered something else, but it turns out I didn't. I did have an interesting dream last night though" he tried to change the subject.

"What was it about?" she asked turning to face him.

"I think it was pieces of memories, but I could be wrong. Sometimes it's hard to tell."

"Tell me about them."

Booth thought back for a couple of minutes trying to recover the things he had remembered the night before. Deciding to start with the smaller pieces he organized them as best he could. "Well, there was one where we were standing on a pier watching a boat sail away."

"Sully" she said quietly. When he turned confused eyes to her she explained. "Sully worked for the FBI. When you were suspended for shooting that clown head" here she paused to make sure he knew what she was talking about. When she saw the recognition in his eyes she continued. "Sully and I worked a case together. Then we started dating. When he bought a boat and decided to go sailing for a year, he asked me to go along. That morning you came to the pier to see if I went with him."

"Why didn't you?" he asked genuinely curious but grateful none the less.

"I couldn't just leave my work for a year to go sailing. Besides," she added reluctantly, "I didn't really want to leave you."

He smiled at this and leaned down to give her a little kiss before placing the next memory. "I remembered trying to talk a man out of shooting himself."

"Where were you?"

"A gym I think. He was sitting in the bleachers."

"Oh, that was Chief Jack Cutler. He had killed a young man who was involved with his daughter. I stopped it though."

"You stopped it?!" he asked a little surprised and a little worried that he didn't remember her being there.

"I sneaked around behind the bleachers while you were talking to him and put my hand between the hammer and chamber."

"Why in the world would you do that Bones? You could have gotten yourself hurt!" he fumed at her.

"Booth, it's ok. I didn't get hurt and we already had this argument once. Tell me what else you remembered" she placated.

"OK, well" he started sorting through images again. The next one he remembered was that image that sent him running to find Bones. Deciding to skip that for the moment; he skipped ahead to the next. "We were trapped in a small room with this really high pitched noise."

"That was just a few weeks ago. It was a case having to do with the Collar Institute. We got trapped in a resonance chamber and you saved us by shooting out the window in the door."

"Really? What were we doing in the chamber?"

"We were investigating the possibility that it was a crime scene."

"Ok, from now on one of us always plays lookout when we are in a room we could be trapped in."

"Deal. Did you remember anything else?"

"I remembered shooting the clown's head on the ice cream truck. I remembered an elevator with human remains smeared throughout. There was a purple pool with floating body parts. I think there was a bomb in a walk in safe?" he said a little unsure of the last one.

She started laughing and he was afraid that he had made that one up. "No there was no bomb, you just thought there was. It was in the Gormogon's vault. You told me that closing your eyes somehow helps when you are blown up."

He laughed a little too before continuing. "I remembered us watching Parker at the park and you being handcuffed to a bench as someone drove away."

"That was Russ and my dad. I tried to arrest him but he cuffed me to the bench. That was around the same time Russ was shot at. It was when my father killed director Kirby."

"Sorry Bones, I didn't mean to-"

"No it's fine. It's not your fault" she cut him off. "Besides, my father and I have started to work that out. Anything else?" she asked hoping to change the subject.

"That's enough for now. Why don't we go to your place to get what you need?" he answered a little mentally fatigued having to remember all the little pieces.

*~BONES~*

When they got to her apartment, Brennan moved straight through to her room to get clean clothes leaving Booth to investigate the rest of the apartment. He started by her stereo system and ran his finger over the spines of her CDs. As he did he remembered doing something similar and commenting on her choice of music and his surprise that she enjoyed jazz. Then he saw the corner of a CD hidden behind the rest. Moving it out into the open he laughed as he noticed that it was Foreigner, the ultimate guilty pleasure. That thought brought more memories back. The two of them were dancing around and he was enjoying her letting loose for once. She played the air guitar and he played the drums. Then the phone rang and she was talking to the guy she had met online. He went to get them some drinks when a bomb went off and he's is thrown across the room.

Shuddering, Booth replaced the CD at the back of her collection and moved across the room to a bookcase that covers most of the wall. On it are all kinds of books; her own strewn among other crime novels (presumably for research and reference) and text books. Among the books are framed pictures and nick-knacks. The Brainy Smurf figurine he gave her and a small toy pig (Jackson or Jasmine … no Jasper). On one shelf are a couple of pictures of Bones' family mostly from when she was a child, but there were a few taken more recently. A dolphin belt buckle catches his eye. He remembers going to get Bones for court and stepping into a room to see if Angela had seen her. She pulls an image onto the Angelator and he stops in his tracks. Then he's running and making a call to the lawyer to inform them that "Dr. Brennan can't testify today." He finds her in her office holding a piece of a belt, trying not to cry. She has finally found her mom, but at the moment that's not really a comfort.

Looking back at the contents of the shelf he notices a glass dolphin paper weight, a present from her father. He almost misses the small silver dolphin resting just in front of a wood frame. Booth picks it up and another memory fills his mind. He finally convinced Bones to go visit her mother's grave and to talk to her. He brings flowers for Bones to leave at the grave. She tells him that it is ridiculous to leave flowers and talk to a dead body, but she does it because Booth says it'll help. As she sets the flowers down against the headstone she picks something else up. She smiles when she sees that it's a dolphin and tells him it's from her father. He gently replaced the small figurine before continuing his investigation of the shelves.

Other shelves displayed various items collected from her various travels around the world. Ceremonial masks, vases, and other items documented how extensively she had traveled and he was impressed, 'probably not for the first time' he thought. Other shelves housed pictures of the team at parties and just around the lab. Many included Zach and looking at them he felt a little twinge. He would never admit it, but he had really liked the kid. In more recent pictures, he noticed that her various students and interns that were on rotation at the lab were not included. In one they were at a bar that was decorated with streamers and balloons, it included the two of them (her with her arm in a sling), Jared, Sweets, and all of the squints. He noticed a tension between his partner and brother and tried to remember why. But try as he might, he couldn't. Giving up, he walked back towards her room to see what was taking her so long.

*~BONES~*

Meanwhile in the bedroom, Brennan was packing clean clothes to take beck over to Booth's when the phone rang. "Brennan" she answered.

"Hey Tempe. How are things?"

"Everything's going ok Russ. Booth is getting a lot of his memory back so things are good."

"What do you mean Booth's getting his memory back? What happened to Booth?" Russ asked shocked at this new development.

"Oh, I didn't call you did I? I'm sorry Russ it has just been a hectic week or so. A little over a week ago Booth had brain surgery to have a tumor removed. There were complications with the anesthetic and he ended up in a coma then had amnesia when he woke up" she explained. By now the story was well rehearsed and much easier to tell than it had been at first.

"Oh Tempe! I'm so sorry. Why didn't you call?"

"I have been busy taking care of Booth and talking to the doctors and everything. I was going to call you today though. You can even ask Booth if you don't believe me."

"No, I believe you. So how is he, how much memory did he lose?"

"He's doing pretty good. He lost about five years of memory so it will be a while before he remembers everything, but he's making progress. He might even be able to go back to work next week."

"Well that's good I guess. Listen, the reason I called was to tell you that Haley decided she doesn't want a party this year."

"She doesn't want a party?" Brennan asked a little disappointed.

"No, she wants to go to this theme park instead. Amy, the girls, and I would love it if you came though. You could even bring Booth and his son. Dad already said he'd come. I figured we could make it like a family thing. What do you say?"

"I would like to go Russ, but I need to know when first" she laughed.

"Right, we're going in the Saturday after next."

"Well, I will be there but I don't know about Booth and Parker, I'd have to ask and see if Rebecca will let Booth have Parker for the day."

"What about me and Parker Bones?" Booth asked as he walked into the room.

"Hold on a minute Russ" she said into the phone before holding it away from her to talk to Booth. "Russ has invited us all to go to an amusement park with them for Haley's birthday in a couple of weeks."

"Does he know already?" Booth asked a little surprised.

"Know about what?" Bones asked back trying to figure her partner out.

"You know about" he gestured between the two of them to get his point across.

"Oh! No, I haven't said anything yet. Why? Should I not tell anyone?"

"Bones can we have this conversation later? Maybe when your brother's not waiting on the other end of the phone?"

Brennan looked to the phone in her hand almost as if she had forgotten it was there. "Right, so do you want to come with us or not?" she asked to get back on topic.

"I would love to. I'm not so sure about Parker though. I mean he would probably love to go, but it depends on whether Rebecca will let me take him."

"Russ" Brennan said returning her attention to the phone, "Booth and I will come but we'll have to get back to you about Parker."

"That's fine. Amy's calling me so I'll let you go. Take care sis."

"I will, you too Russ. Bye." After she hung up she turned once more to Booth. "So am I not supposed to tell anyone that we are dating?"

"It's not that I don't want anyone to know, but don't you think we should talk about it first before we go and tell everyone?" he reasoned.

"I guess you're right. So what do we need to talk about?" Bones asked patting the bed next to her for him to take a seat.

Booth thought about it for a moment as he took a seat. "I don't know. Do we really want to actually tell everyone or just let them figure it out for themselves? We can keep it a secret for a while. You know if we tell everyone, especially Angela, no one will leave us alone about it. Or we could just say to heck with it and make an announcement."

"I think," she started, "we should wait for a little while and see how it goes. Angela wants to do some kind of welcome home dinner party thing for you and we can tell them then if they haven't already figured it out" she suggested.

"That sounds perfect" he agreed punctuating the point with a kiss.

*~BONES~*

"Hey Bren, Booth what are you guys doing here?" Angela asked swiping her card to gain access to the forensic platform.

"Well Bones wanted to get some work done, personally I don't know how she went four days without doing any work, and I wanted to come hang out. It's better than hanging around my apartment by myself, since she still won't let me drive" Booth answered when he noticed that Bones was too engrossed in her work to answer herself.

"Mr. Edison, what do you make of this mark on the fifth and sixth vertebrae?" he heard her call out to her grad student. Booth blocked out the rest of that conversation and shifted his focus to where Angela and Hodgins were conversing a little ways away. As he watched them a series of flashes occurred to him. Hodgins was talking to him about proposing a couple of different times. Booth was Hodgins' best man and they were watching as Angela and her dad walked down the aisle. Hodgins and Angela were looking for her first husband, who she barely remembered. Said husband showed up at the Jeffersonian and turned everything upside down. During a case, he and Bones learned that one of the suspects was Angela's ex-girlfriends. He vaguely remembered a time when the two couldn't even talk to each other. At least now they were getting along again.

Looking around he finds that he's comfortable here, which is weird because he can remember a time when it made him uncomfortable. He had told Gordon Gordon, right here in fact, that the lab was too shiny, too clean. "Death is not clean … especially murder" he had said. Besides that he used to feel his IQ drop walking into the building surrounded by so many geniuses. But somehow that feeling of alienation had changed. Maybe it was because Bones never thought him stupid, maybe it was the way the squints took him into their group, maybe it had happened when they were working together trying to save Bones and Hodgins from the Gravedigger. Whatever the reason, he felt as comfortable here in this lab as he did in the field or an interrogation room.

Leaning against the railing, he turned his attention back to his partner. She had the most adorable, he would die if he used that word to her face, expression on her face when she was absorbed in her world of bones. She would get so focused that she became oblivious to the world beyond the table in front of her and the bones under her hands. It didn't matter if she was looking at the bones of a recently murdered person, a civil war soldier, or someone who died thousands of years ago, to her they were all equally important. She was as determined to find out the who, what, and how of the life _and death_ of any remains that found their way to her table. Now that he thought about it, her dedication to justice for everyone was one of the things that had first attracted him to her. It was also what had helped to convince him to let her be more active in their cases and stand up for her with Cullen even after she shot Ken Thompson.

He was broken out of his thoughts by a voice off to his left. "Booth, sweetie, when would be a good time to throw you a surprise party?" Angela asked.

"You are asking _me_ when a good time to throw _me_ a surprise party? Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? It can't be a_ surprise_ party if I _know_ about it."

"Fine" Angela laughed, "so it won't be a surprise party. When would be a good time for your _non-surprise_ party then?"

"This weekend. That way when you get hammered you don't have to worry about work the next morning."

"I resent that remark. I would never" at a disbelieving look from him she adjusted her statement, "ok, I would, but I have no intention of getting wasted. The weekend is great though. That gives me four days to plan!"

"Ang, there is no need to plan anything. We can all just meet up at the diner or the Founding Fathers bar."

She gave him a look that clearly told him she thought he was crazy, but didn't say anything about it. "So how's the memory coming along?" she asked instead.

"Yeah Seeley, is it getting any better?" Cam added as she drew close enough to join in.

"As a matter of fact it is. It's a slow process, but all the little pieces are starting to fall into place. It's just a matter of time" Booth answered honestly.

"That's good Seeley. I was thinking about stopping by tonight to check on you, maybe bring you dinner."

"That's thoughtful Cam, but I think Bones was planning on making us dinner tonight."

Cam smiled, albeit a little forcedly, and took the hint and backed off. When she had learned that of all the people they had worked with she was the only one he remembered, she had selfishly thought that maybe they could give it another go. Now, however it seemed that things were close to where they had been before the surgery. Booth and Brennan were once again so close they might as well be married.

*~BONES~*

Two hours later, Bones found Booth napping on the couch in her office. Leaning against the doorjamb she studied her sleeping partner. His strong face was smoothed out and looked younger when he slept. He looked comfortable despite the snug fit on the couch. To accommodate his length, his feet were propped up and hanging off the arm of the couch closest to her door. His head was pillowed on the arm on the opposite end. The blanket that was usually laid across the back, was spread half heartedly across his torso. She was surprised when Angela came up behind her and laid a hand on her arm, motioning her back out into the hallway.

"So Sweetie, what happened?" Angela pried.

"I don't know what you're talking about Ang" Brennan tried to cover.

"You're lying and you're bad at it. So what has happened between you two since you were here yesterday?" she tried again.

"Well, we ate lunch at the diner. Then we stopped by the Hoover building, had meetings with Cullen and Sweets, talked to Agent Perotta – which reminds me, until Booth is back at work, we are working with Agent Perotta. Then we … went home, had dinner, talked some, watched some TV, and went to bed" she stalled.

"What happened between seeing Perotta and going home Bren?" Ang asked picking up on the hesitation in her best friend's account. She hadn't missed the 'home' reference either, but the first was almost guaranteed to be juicer gossip.

Brennan looked through the door at her partner again and a smile spread across her lips. She then looked around the hallway to make sure that there was no one around to overhear. "Ang, don't freak out, but he kissed me" she informed her friend in a hushed voice.

Angela clasped her hands over her mouth just in time to muffle the squeal that erupted. Once she had regained her composure she asked, "So, what was it like? Why did he kiss you, I mean not like he wouldn't have eventually, but why now, I mean then?"

"It was completely spontaneous, I don't know why he did it. And it was nice. It didn't even last a full steamboat, but it was nice."

"Steamboat?" Angela questioned while smirking at her friend's unusual terminology.

"Yes, steamboat. When Caroline had me kiss Booth under the mistletoe, she told me to kiss him for five steamboats" she explained.

Initially Angela was a little put out that her favorite non-couple had kissed and she had missed it, twice now, and Bren hadn't volunteered the information either time. But then she thought about who they were and the fact that the previous kiss has obviously not lead to anything and relaxed back into happy mode. "So it was just one kiss? That's it?"

Ang watched in amusement as Bren blushed and once again looked around the hall. Finally Bren pulled her into the office and over to her desk. "We have kissed some more today" she admitted in a hushed whisper glancing furtively in the direction of the couch. She managed to firmly cover Angela's mouth before she once again squealed at the admission. "Shhh! Do you want to wake him up?" At the mischievous glint in her friend's eye, she amended, "Don't answer that."

"So are you two like dating now?" she asked while bouncing on the balls of her feet, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Yes we are and you can go tell the rumor and collect on the bets if you want" sounded from the corner of the room. Both women turned surprised to hear him answer since they thought he was still asleep.

"Booth! How long have you been awake?" Brennan exclaimed.

"Long enough, Bones. You look happy Angela" he commented.

"Oh Sweeties, you have no idea how long I have waited for this! You just made my week!" she exclaimed hugging Brennan tightly. "No, my year!" she amended rushing over to hug the now standing Booth.

They both simply laughed as she practically ran out of the room with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. As she started gathering her things to leave, they could hear "Hodgins, you'll never guess what Bren and Booth just told me!" resounding down the hall.

"So much for waiting to see how things work themselves out" Brennan said with a resigned sigh.

*~BONES~*

Once they had returned to the apartment, Brennan went out to buy some groceries for dinner and Booth took advantage of the time alone to call Rebecca about arranging their weekend with Parker. "Rebecca, I need a favor" he said essentially once she answered the phone.

"What do you need Seeley?"

"Bones' brother invited us to go to an amusement park with his family the weekend after next and I wanted to bring Parker."

"Seeley, you're supposed to have him this weekend not next. You want him two in a row?"

"I'm aware of that Rebecca, that's why it's called a favor. And although I would love to have him both weekends, I am willing to trade with you. Come on Rebecca, he'll have fun with Bones' nieces."

"Fine, we can trade weekends. So, you are going with Dr. Brennan and her family?" she asked intrigued.

"Yeah. It's Haley's birthday and they are going to the amusement park instead of having a party" he explained.

"I thought Dr. Brennan's brother didn't like you. Didn't you arrest him?"

"Yes I did, but he understands I was just doing my job. We get along ok now. Why are you so interested anyway?"

"It just surprised me is all. Are you and Dr. Brennan dating or something now?" she asked only slightly kidding.

"Yeah, or something" Booth responded a little uncomfortably.

After a few moments of silence from both people, Rebecca got back to asking more relevant questions. "So what amusement park are you going to?"

"They don't know for sure yet, but Russ mentioned something about Kings Island."

"That's in Ohio!"

"I know where it is Rebecca. That's why I will need to pick him up Friday night. We're going to have to get an early start."

"Fine, call me later with the details. I'll let you tell Parker when he gets home from his friend's house."

*~BONES~*

"Booth, I'm back! You wanna give me a hand with these bags?" Brennan called as she opened the door.

Booth jumped to his feet and arrived just in time to catch a bag perched precariously between her knee and the wall. "Think you got enough stuff Bones?" he teased as they began unpacking the bags.

"Not really. When was the last time you went to the store or cooked a real meal? You can't live off of takeout alone" she chastised.

"Well, I've been doing a pretty good imitation of it thus far."

She merely scoffed. "So, what did you do while I was out?"

"I called Rebecca. She said we could take Parker with your family, but I don't get him this weekend."

"That actually works out for the better though, doesn't it? Angela is planning that party for you this weekend and you would have to leave him with a sitter."

"I guess. So do you know where we're going?"

"No, but I have to call Russ back to tell him Parker's coming. I'll find out then."

"Why don't you call him now while I make us some lunch? You've been waiting on me since I got home. I am capable of taking care of making lunch" he said adding his charm smile for good measure.

She smiled as she passed him, but was stopped by his hands around her waist. She was about to question him when he pressed a quick kiss to the corner of her mouth.

As she waited for Russ to answer the phone, she wandered around the apartment. After a few rings she heard her older niece answer the phone. "Hi sweetie, it's aunt Tempe. Is your dad there?"

"Hi! Just a minute. … Dad! … So are you coming with us for Haley's birthday?"

"Yes, that's what I want to talk to your dad about."

"Hey sis, what's up?" she heard her brother ask.

"Booth talked to his ex and Parker can come with us."

"That's great, I'd love to meet him."

"Booth had a question though, actually I think it was Rebecca, but that doesn't matter. Where are we going?"

"We haven't made up our minds yet. It's either gonna be Bush Gardens or Kings Island."

"Ok, well let me know when you decide so we can pass that along to Rebecca."

"Umm, you seem to be using that 'we' word a lot there Tempe" Russ commented not even trying to hide his amusement.

"Well, if you must know, Booth and I are dating, so by definition 'we' is the appropriate word to use" she rebutted with her own amusement. The conversation carried on a while longer with the two catching up on things until Booth announced that lunch was ready.

*~BONES~*

During a lull in the conversation over lunch, Booth thought back to the last things he remembered before falling asleep the night before. "Hey Bones why did it take this long for anything to happen between us?"

"What?"

"Last night, I was remembering a lot of things that happened between us that had absolutely nothing to do with work, and I was just wondering why we didn't act on our feelings sooner."

"We talked about that this morning. We were both worried about it interfering with work and us getting hurt. What were you remembering anyway?" she deflected.

"Lots of things, you know. I remembered being in the hospital after the whole Kenton thing and that black dress you were wearing."

She smiled at the memory. "You remember the dress I was wearing!?" she asked in disbelief.

"Of course I do. You turned down a date with internet guy to sit in an uncomfortable hospital chair in your pretty dress and watch TV with me."

"Yes, well to be honest, after I met him in person I wasn't all that impressed. I just pretended to be because you are so cute when you are jealous."

"I was not _that_ jealous" he defended.

"You had him in an interrogation room!" she countered. When she had stopped laughing, she continued, "So what else did you remember?"

"There was another night that you didn't go on a date and hung out with me in another very pretty dress, green I think."

"I didn't cancel that date though" she reminded.

"I know that. But I meant what I said in Sweets' office. Do you remember what that was?"

"What about being each other's surrogate relationship?" she teased. When he looked slightly less than amused, she answered more seriously. "You said that there's someone out there to spend the rest of my life with and I just had to be willing to see it."

"Ok, if I say something now do you promise not to go running for the hills?"

"Ok. I promise" she answered uncertainly.

"I was talking about me Bones. I was talking about us." As he said this he took her hand, partially in anticipation of her fight or flight reflex and partially to keep a connection with her. The room was deathly quiet for so long that he began to worry.

Just before he opened his mouth though, she smiled and said "That's good, because that's what I hoped you had meant. Now was that all that you remembered?"

He had to laugh at that. Only Bones could take a comment like that in stride and continue with the conversation as if he had informed her that he had ordered a pizza over Chinese. He second thought for a moment whether or not he should sensor what he told her, but realized that she would see right through his attempts to shield her in any way and would not appreciate the gesture.

"I also remembered two very uncomfortable incidents."

"Uncomfortable for who?"

"Both of us. The first time you met Tessa and the first time I met Mark?" he questioned his memory of the name.

"Yes, it was Mark. And yes that was very uncomfortable for you."

"For me? What about you? As I recall, you were more than a little flapped to see Tessa come out of my room wearing only my dress shirt."

"Moving on!" Bones announced, effectively putting the matter to rest for now with a glare.

"I also remembered you being in the hospital. I don't remember much about that, but I do remember practically having to tackle a couple of nurses to get to you."

Bones thought for a moment trying to figure out what he was talking about. "New Orleans" she suddenly said as she placed the fragment.

"What about New Orleans?" asked a very confused Booth.

"That's where I was" she answered in a calmer, quieter voice. "After Katrina, I volunteered in New Orleans to identify remains and while I was there, I was drugged and injured. One of the other doctors was murdered. Anyway, I woke up on the bathroom floor of my hotel room covered in blood and called you. You came down to help me figure out what had happened because the drug had wiped out any memory I had of the previous 24 hours."

"I vaguely remember something about an earring. It was your mother's I think."

"Yes, my mother's earring was ripped out at the scene and you saw it and removed it to protect me. The detective in charge of the case was already convinced that I had killed Dr. Leger."

"That's ridiculous, how could anyone think you could kill someone?"

"I have though, I shot Pam and killed her. And the circumstantial evidence was significantly stacked against me" she answered honestly.

"That doesn't matter and the Pam thing is different all together. You shot her in self defense."

"Fine, I will concede to that. Why don't we move to the couch? This chair is getting a little uncomfortable."

After moving to more comfortable positions on the couch Booth continued to tell her about the things he had recalled. "I remember you calling me out to New Mexico to help Angela with something."

"Kirk, her boyfriend went missing in the desert and a skull was found. She called me to identify it and I called you to get them to let me examine it."

"We stayed in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere."

"Everywhere there is out in the middle of nowhere. And yes, it was Kirk's place. We did eventually find him."

"And the girl he was with, what was her name? The sheriff's sister."

"Danni, her name is Danni. And yes, we found her, alive."

"That sounds like a good place to stop for now. Hey, we haven't had a proper dinner date yet. How about you go home and put on a nice dress and we go out?"

"That sounds like a very good idea. See you in about an hour and a half?"

"It's a date" he deadpanned before walking her to the door and kissing her goodbye.

*~BONES~*

**Author's Note****: Thanks for sticking with it this long. I don't think this one is really up to par, but oh well, I hope you enjoy it anyway. Coming up, I'll do a little with Perotta and Bones working, the party for Booth, and the trip to the amusement park. As always, I appreciate comments, suggestions, and questions.**


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